London Road Cemetery



LOCATION:

It is located in Borough of Bromley. It is a couple of minutes’ walk from the Bromley Hill Cemetery. The main entrance is found on Warner Road. There are several buses that stop near it and the nearest train stations are either Bromley North or Sundridge Park.
 

FIRST OPENED:

It first opened in 1877.
 

FAMOUS RESIDENTS:

Sir Edward Scott: Banker & sheriff of Kent

Sir Ralph Forster: Deputy Lieutenant for Surrey

Frank Pullen: Racehorse owner
 

ALSO KNOWN AS:

At one point it was known as Beckenham Cemetery as it is quite near to the town.
 

SIZE & LAYOUT:

The burial ground is only 4.8 acres, the land is pretty much square shaped so everything is easy to see.
 

THE WALKABOUT:

I completely went the wrong way as I was trying to find this place so I was not in the best of moods when I got there! Plus it was light raining which was inconvenient whilst trying to take photos. Apart from that I was glad to eventually get there. The walls around the place are only about 3-4 feet high so you could see everything while standing outside it. Shame its right next to a busy road. As you enter the cemetery you are greeted by dark iron gates. They are very Gothic looking. Straight ahead of you is a massive archway that joins together 2 chapels. I believe one is the mortuary and the other is the actual chapel. It was shut so I couldn’t go and see for myself. The building is truly beautiful. They are surrounded with lots of plants and little flower beds. Once you walk through the archway, right in front of you is a big flower bed. The bed has 4 paths leading from it (in the shape of a cross).

The graveyard itself is small so there is not an awful lot to see. Doesn’t mean the graves aren’t beautiful though. This is a very well looked after graveyard, very tidy. The men were even in on the day I was there, mowing the lawns and trimming the roses. Considering how old the place is, there aren’t actually that many really old looking graves. There are a few damaged ones but most of them are in pretty good condition! There are a few memorial benches placed around also. They make the graveyard almost look like a park. The back of the graveyard has trees surrounding it. They should have done this with the front also I feel.

Every time I see or read a grave I always feel a bit sad but the one that really got me was a little baby’s grave. It was buried away from the others (I don’t know why) and there was loads of little toys in front of it, all brightly coloured. It was quite sad to see it really.
 

ANY GHOSTS?:

Because of the constant noise, it was very hard to get a feeling of the place. It deserves to have a lot more peace than it does. So I never got a distinctive feeling. However, the photos I took tell a different story. These have not been looked over so I am just pointing out what I think looked strange. Here they are:

This I don’t believe is a ghost photo but it does appear to be some sort of strange little creature. If anyone thinks they have a clue what it might be then go ahead!

This one appears to be a devilish face peering over at me. A spirit not agreeing with what I’m doing maybe?

FINAL (RESTING) WORD:

It’s not the largest cemetery I have ever been too, and the constant traffic right next to it is very off putting. Apart from that, it is very simple and very lovely. Nice for a little walk around I feel. If they could somehow make it more private to the traffic then that would be perfect.

“Respect those who are not physically here, you can’t see them but they can see you, and disrespect is something they don’t want to see”

RATING: 3/5 – maybe not worth a long trip to go and see but beautiful none the less

LINKS: http://www.bromley.gov.uk/directory_record/508042/london_road_cemetery